Fair route to help Cotton

Keeping this in mind, former students of Cotton College have set up a stall at the ongoing Northeast Book Fair here to raise funds through book sales for development of the century-old institution.

The initiative, which has been taken up under the banner of Association of Past & Present Office-bearers of Cotton College Union Society, also saw many former students give money from their own pockets to set up the stall.

Jagadish Dutta, general secretary of the association, told The Telegraph that more than 18 publications have been displayed at the stall and the response from visitors has been quite encouraging.

“The books published by the association on various burning issues of Assam as well as India have been drawing a good number bibliophiles to the stall at the book fair. We are expecting that the sale of books will go up in the coming days and we would be able to collect a sizeable amount of funds,” he said.

Dutta said the book on the life of Juli Barua, a former brilliant student of Cotton College, who lost both her hands in an accident in 2006, is selling well among students and youths.

“The book deals with how the will power and determination of Barua helped her overcome the tragedy. She had lost her hands while studying in Cotton College and is now an Assam government official. The book is a must-read for all young people who get upset and frustrated even at a minor hurdle in life,” he said.

Dutta, who was the former general secretary of Cotton College Union Society, said the funds collected from book sales would be used for the overall academic development of the college. “Many students who passed from Cotton have now reached the zenith of success in their chosen fields. It is the time to pay back to their alma mater. We want Cotton College to gain more reputation and success in the coming days. We have taken up the initiative to encourage the young and present Cottonians to engage in creative activities,” Dutta said.

Besides the four metros — Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai — publishers from Punjab, Siliguri, Hyderabad, Patna, Gurgaon and others are taking part in the fair at the Assam Engineering Institute playground in Chandmari.

The fair has been organised by the All Assam Publishers and Booksellers Association.